He Learned to Sacrifice
by MARVEL-BABYSITTER31
Summary: Before Phil Coulson ever knew about the Avengers, he had a partner named Alexis Moore. She's immature, a fighter, and tends not to play well with others. They are teamed together by Fury to make one another better, Phil less stuck up and Alexis more serious. He didn't know it in the beginning, but by the end he would learn what sacrifice really meant. T for swearing, might go up.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:;: This is just an idea I have had, gonna see how well it plays out. So, yeah... Yeah.**

* * *

Fury wants to give me a partner.

A NEW PARTNER.

Apparently the way I come off is rude and immature, and with me being a new agent he wants to make sure that I have someone to teach me how to act. I don't like this, I am perfectly capable of being mature and respectful, all the cases he heard about me were false! Those people jut don't understand that the way I do things is different...

And not to mention my new partner is LATE.

Of all the things someone could do to piss me off, the worst is being late.

I walk around the meeting room, tipping chairs and placing them back in place with one finger, growing more impatient by the second. Fury said this guy is supposed to be responsible, that he always shows up right in the nick of time. I spare a glance at the clock again, to see that another hour has passed by, and he still isn't here. He is three hours late.

Groaning, I sit back in the chair at the far side of the table, hoping that this guy died on the way here or something. At least then I wouldn't have to work with someone, have to worry about someone slowing me down. It might sound like a cruel thing, but I prefer to move fast and smart, then slow and steady. It makes so much more sense, and whoever this guy is could ruin it!

The door behind me opens.

"Your late."

"Actually, I'm precisely on time." I whip around, narrowing my eyes at the man. He has the brightest blue eyes, and a little bit of very light brown hair on the top of his head. His posture is straight, so he must have been working here for quite awhile. Unless he went into the army... Doubtful. His suit is perfectly clean and in order, might be OCD about that.

"In what country?"

"Europe." His expression doesn't change, staying stoic.

We sit there and stare at each other for the longest time, both of us trying to make an impression of each other. I would have to admit, if Fury was going for the strict 'You Can Only Do What I Say' guy, this agent might be it. He looks like the kind of person who takes everything too seriously, something I don't really like.  
He makes the first move, my body tensing when he holds his hand out to me.

"Phil Coulson." I take his hand.

"Alexis Moore."

* * *

**LATER**

"You're kidding me, right?" I scowl at the tiny room in front of me. According to Fury, I need to be able to 'bond' with my new partner Phil. During the time we met today, he didn't say much, sitting across from me and staring the entire time. I did the same back, trying to figure out what exactly he was thinking.  
The point is, I got the room beside his, and it's tiny.

"No, I'm not. Unpack and get ready, your first mission as a team will be tomorrow morning." Fury says, leaving my new room without so much as a good-bye. Men are so rude...

I dump my bag onto the floor and glare at the bed. It's not that big either, so small my feet might hang off of it. I had to get someone to work with, and now I'm stuck in here? Oh Fury, if you poke the bear to much it will attack.

I flop down on the bed and curl up into a fetal position. Right now, I'm too tired to think about things like this. It's been a really long and stressful day, all I want to do is sleep...

* * *

**THE NEXT MORNING AT TOO EARLY A TIME**

A knock comes at my door.

I groan, looking at the clock to find that it is only three in the morning. I didn't go to bed until eleven last night, trying to grow accustom to my new bedroom, and hell, new life I'm going to be living as of today. It might be my fault for being so reckless on the first few missions I was on, since that is what he said got me here, but I do not think I deserve to live like this.

I slip out of my bed, opening the door in my pajama short and tank top to find Agent Coulson standing in front of me. His arms are crossed impatiently, the expression of disappointment clear on his facial features. I couldn't have done something wrong yet, right?..

"Why aren't you dressed? We leave in twenty minutes." His voice is monotone, but hinted with a parental tone. His body posture is stiff and straight, something you would expect from a leader or someone who went into the service.

"Twenty minutes?"

"Twenty minutes. Be there by then, or you get left behind and a bad report on your progress." Before I can even get a word out, he turns away from me and stalks down the halls. I glare at his back in annoyance, feeling the anger bubble up inside of me. He was late yesterday, and I didn't even give him as much hell as I should have! But he says I'll get a bad report if I don't show up on time!? That's hypocrisy!

Groaning in frustration, I dress myself into myself into my normal everyday, goddamn boring SHIELD uniform.

By the time I'm finished getting into my uniform, I have five minutes left to get to the hanger and board the ship. I run through the halls, knocking some of the other agents over on the way, earning myself some very rude comments and gestures on the way there. When I finally reach the hanger, there he is, standing in front of the jet with a case in his hands.

So formal.

"Agent Coulson."

"Agent Moore." He nods a hello to me and enters the jet. There is one pilot, but I notice that there are no co-pilots. I'm not really sure how to fly a jet, which would mean that one thing Agent Coulson knows how to do is fly a jet. Huh, interesting, but I want to figure out more than that... After all, he is my new partner.

"I'm surprised you made it, Fury said you are a bit of a rebel." He comments, looking at me with a smile that I honestly can't really tell if he's being serious or not. I think he is, I'm not really sure Agent Coulson is capable of joking.

"Well, I wouldn't want a bad report, now would I?" I shoot back, glaring at him. He stays completely calm though, hands knitted together in front of him with a stoic facial expression, the one that never seems to leave his face.

"That was just an incentive to make you move quicker. Lesson one, learn when to tell lies from truth." As soon as he says this, my mouth hangs open a little trying to understand what just happened. Right now I'm liking Agent Coulson less and less, though the stunt he pulled with me is pretty funny, and not to mention clever.  
The jet takes off.

"How many lessons are there?"

"Thirty five, and by the end of this year you will have learned them all." This makes me frown, but I don't reply with anything. He wants to get on my nerves, try to get a rise out of me. I will not be stuck with this man for an entire year, and I will not lose my temper with him. It will be as simple as that.

* * *

**AN HOUR LATER**

Agent Coulson debriefed me on the mission on the way there.

According to what he told me, the man we are being sent to execute has been an enemy of SHIELD's for a long time, making them enemy number one. He has been taking down agents from our division for a long time, though Coulson never gave a specific name. Apparently SHIELD has already lost about three hundred agents to his organization, killed or turned over to his side.

The pilot is supposed to drop us a little ways away, only a mile or two. I start to feel more excited the closer we get to it, making me smile. I can show Agent Coulson that I'm not immature in this job, that I will be able to handle myself without needing a partner. Fury was wrong about me.  
The jet lands.

"Agent Moore, this way." Agent Coulson steps out of the jet, giving a nod to the pilot who flies away a moment later. He starts to walk through the wooded area, eyes trained on any and every movement that is made. His steps are quick, but quite, and I try to follow his steps so I will not make any noise either.

Every now and then he will glance back at me, making sure that I am still following. Each time he does I try to smile and be nice, and each time he looks back to the front without even smiling back. So, my attempt at being nice to him isn't going to work, time to move to plan B. Make Agent Coulson respect me for who I am.

He stops me with his hand, looking around the open area in front of us. I can tell that we are about to get into something, because his eyes grow harder every second. A helicopter lands in the middle of the field in front of us, and out comes the man we were sent to assassinate. Agent Coulson looks back at me, making hand signals for me to go to the left. I nod back, following his directions to the best of my abilities. May as well listen to him, he has been on the job longer than I have.  
Agent Coulson steps out from the tree's.

"Mr. Black, put your hands up and come quietly please." Assassinate might have been a strong word to use before. We kill him if he disagrees to go, but if he agrees than he has a better chance of surviving.

"I don't believe I should, Agent Coulson." I expect to see surprise on Agent Coulson's face, but none came.

"If you do not agree, I will have to execute you." He nods in my direction, making me pull out my gun and aim it at him. The man smirks, a smirk that sends shivers down my spine.

That's when I feel the gun against my head.

* * *

**A/N:;: Again, don't know if I'm going to continue it, depends on if anyone likes it.**


	2. Fail

We surrendered.

The men hold us at gunpoint, forcing us down a long, narrow hallway. I glance at Coulson every now and then to see whether or not if he is going to do something, but his face is always the same stoic expression. I really think that his face never changes, that it has always been that way ever since the day he was born. After all, I haven't even seen this man smile even once.

One of the men shoves me forward, making me trip over my feet and fall towards the floor. For I moment I am convinced that I am going to hit the floor.

Coulson reached over swiftly, and catches me before I fall. His arms wrap around my waist, pulling me upwards and out of the way of the one man who pushes me. Without a word, Agent Coulson puts me in front of him, one hand laying gently on my back as if to guide me. I try to glance back at him, to question him for his actions, but his other hand presses against my cheek and forces me to face forward.

When we finally reach the place we are supposed to be taken to, my eyes widen. This is not like the torture rooms I have seen in all the other times I have been captured on missions, no, this one is much different. This one reminds me of the old torture chambers I used to see in the history books in school.

Phil moves closer to me, whispering into my ear,

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt as much as you think. Mr. Black is an amateur." I spare a glance back at him, wanting to grin but holding it back. If I did something like that it could risk the entire mission.

Not that this mission isn't already ruined.

The men place us in chairs, tying Coulson's hands behind his back but strapping mine down instead. I notice that he is in a wooden chair, but mine is a metal chair with wires connected to it. When I see what the wires are connected to, my face pales visibly. It's not that I'm afraid, it's just the thought that I might die this way.

Death by electric chair.

"Ms. Alexandra Moore, age twenty-four, been with SHIELD for quite a long time. Trustworthy, but too haste on decisions, tends to run into a situation without even thinking of the consequences." Mr. Black reads off of a file that another man gave him. My mouth opens up a bit, wondering how in the world he could know that about me. That was just the profile Barton did on me, what else do these people know? Could they possibly know my past?...

"May I ask how exactly you got that?"

"I don't think you are in the position to ask questions, Agent Moore." He walks over to the control panel, placing his hand by the one thing that could kill me. My body stiffens, reminding me of the similar situations I have been in like this one.

"I don't think-" Agent Coulson kicks my leg, making me shut up. I almost start in on Mr. Black again, but the look my partner gives me tells me it would be a very bad idea.

"You would really kill the two people who could help you?" Coulson asks him, cocking his head the slightest bit. I don't look at him, glaring at the wall in front of me in anger. This is a typical response to torture and murder, doesn't he know that Mr. Black would realize that?

"Oh really? Give me an example." His hand trails closer to the lever.

"One is I know every code to every military base in the United States, two is Agent Moore is a very skilled mutant." My head finally snaps in his direction, giving him a look of disbelief. How could he have possibly known? I haven't used my abilities since I was nine years old, and I sure as hell never used them again!

"A mutant?" Mr. Black takes sudden interest in me. "How come this was not in her file?"

"SHIELD likes to keep some things on the down low, especially when it concerns one of our best." Now I really am in shock. He says that I am one of Fury's best, and yet the things I have done in my past, the things that Fury told me ruined my chances of leveling to a level 7 agent... I just don't understand anymore.

"Well, why don't we test her defense then."

He pulls the lever down.

I only felt the first shock of electricity run through my body before my defense mechanism settled in. My head whips back, a silent scream ripping from my mouth, unheard by anyone else in the room. Coulson's eyes had widened, I'm not sure how much SHIELD ever knew about my abilities, but obviously not much if he's looking like this.

Even though I cannot feel any of the pain from the shocks, my body still convulses and my heart still races. Being a mutant can mean several things, having special talents, being able to do things that no normal person could ever do. Mine though, it's a little bit less complicated than anyone would think, it's actually quite simple.

I can kill myself.

My head lulls back, eyes rolling into the back of my head and my fingers barely twitching. It must have been a disgusting sight for some of the men, because I can faintly hear feet rushing out of the room, a door slamming behind them. Taking one last breath, I force my airways to shut down,

And my heart stops.

* * *

**_Phil Coulson POV_**

It was never clear what her ability was, but SHIELD always knew she was a mutant, ever since the day she first came to us. When I saw him pull the lever down, I was sure she was going to use her ability to get out of it, to save herself so we could succeed with the mission and leave. But when her head fell back, I knew she was not going to fight back.

"You must have lied Agent Coulson, her dead body is the proof." He pulls the lever back up, turning to me with a smirk. My face stays the same expression it has always been, but on the inside I feel terrible for not being able to keep her safe. She's only a level three agent, she's young and reckless. I got her into this mess by accepting the mission, and I could not help her as he killed her.

"We weren't sure about her powers."

"And I guess now you'll never know!" His laugh fills the room, insane and delighted with what he had done.

The two of us stare at each other for a moment, judging each other. He is trying to decide what he wants to do with me, and I'm trying to figure out a way out of this mess. It's not that hard, considering the way his friends tied me down was so loose that it will only take a moment of struggling before I can find my way out of this.

But she died, and she's my responsibility.

After a long stare down, Mr. Black finally stands, adjusting his jacket and smiling once again. He does not say anything as he turns, strolling out of the room with two guards falling in close behind him. I watch him out of the corner eye until he leaves the room, then I start silently trying to get out of the ropes.

One hand free, one more to go.

Twisting my wrist forty-five degrees, I am able to just barely get my other hand free from being bound. Sighing in relief, I stand up and straighten up my clothes, walking over to Agent Moore.

"How in the hell did you get loose?!" I turn around just as my hand touches Moore's, glancing at the man behind me. He's not too big, reminds me of someone I know back at SHIELD...

"Guess they never taught you how to tie a knot in camp." I pull the gun from my back pocket just as he pulls his, dodging a bullet and jumping behind the chair I was in a moment ago. Not that the chair will deflect much, but it's something at least.

The bullets stop.

"Coulson, stop hiding and get your ass out here." No... That couldn't be...

I saw her die!

* * *

**ALEXIS MOORE POV**

Cue the shocked face of Agent Phil Coulson.

"This is going to go on my SHIELD file isn't it?" For the first time, Agent Coulson smiles.

"Yes, yes it is."


End file.
